Captain Edmonds was conducting a ladder drill with Ladder 1 on the parking lot beside the Central Fire Station. The eighty-five foot aerial ladder was raised and the fire fighters had been taking turns climbing down the backside of the ladder. This was not a routine Fire Department drill. Several fire fighters had climbed the ladder before Captain Edmonds took his turn. As Captain Edmonds reached the top of the ladder, it began to sway in the wind. Suddenly it cracked five feet from the base, fell across Preston Street, and hit an overhead trolley car wire where it broke again. When this happened, Captain Edmonds fell to the street where he was critically injured. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead upon arrival.